Vegan Hot Cross Buns

There is no greater smell than that of warmed hot cross buns filling your house. Since going Vegan, I have missed that smell, so this year I decided to make some.

The recipe is broken down into parts and will make 6 Vegan Hot Cross Buns, to make more just double or triple up on the ingredients.

To make the dough you will need ......

• half a cup of dairy free milk (I used hemp milk)
• half a teaspoon of yeast
• 1 tbsp of sugar

Gently warm the milk until it's lukewarm, in a bowl add the yeast, the sugar and milk, mixing well together. 

In a large bowl add all the dry ingredients below. 

• 250 grams of plain flour
• half a teaspoon of salt
• half a teaspoon of ground ginger
• half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• half a teaspoon of ground or grated nutmeg
• 50 grams of sultanas
• finely grated zest of 1 orange

Make a well in the centre and add ......

• 1 tbsp of oil
• 1 tbsp of orange juice 
• and the yeast mixture

Bring all the ingredients together with your hands, you may need to add a little more flour or water (if  the dough too wet or too dry)

Knead the dough for 10 minutes, yes your arms will ache but it will be totally worth it. 

Cover the dough in cling film or a clean damp tea towel and leave it to rise in a warm place (put your heating on if the room is cold) for an hour. 

Knead for a further 10 minutes, just think of the guns you'll get, your arms need this workout. 

Divide the dough in to 6 equally sized balls and place them on to a baking tray.

Again cover with the cling film/tea towel and leave in a warm place for a further 35 minutes.

Heat your oven to 175C

To make the crosses on top

• Just mix 1 tbsp of flour with a little water to make a thick paste.

You can use a piping bag, if doubling or tripling the mixture to make 12 or 18 hot cross buns. To make 6, I just used a small spoon and a knife to create the crosses. 

Place your buns into the pre-heated oven for approximately 20 minutes. Keep checking on them, until they look golden brown and smell delicious. 

Whilst still warm, you will need to add the glaze.....

• 1 tbsp of sugar
• 1 tbsp of orange juice (or water)

Gently boil the sugar and juice together in a small pan until you create a syrup. Remove from the heat and brush the syrup over the buns.

We were extra naughty and added sugar crystals too.

You could eat these straight away or serve toasted with vegan butter and a little dash of salt on top, to recreate a butter taste. 

Your house will smell amazing each time you toast some under the grill. Enjoy :)

Have a wonderful Easter and Stay kind....